Improving On Our Photography Skills at the Apple Store

Visiting the Apple Store in Milton Keynes for a photography workshop on how to take better photos with an iPhone was a much needed experience. We are in our mid-50s, and we were heading back to school, albeit for 60mins. Robust feedback from our children suggested that our photography skills weren't great - they in fact were shocking. This was based on the many thousands of poor photographs which appear not to be a valid substitute for quality.

It was time to take action, and we were eager to learn and improve.

TL;DR

It was a first day at school moment as we went into the Apple shop, a mix of nervousness and excitement - though we were quickly put at our ease by a great instructor. It was actually odd to meet someone with years of experience in iPhone photography - I just didn't realise it was a thing. The next 60mins went by in a flash - see what I did there?

The Technical Stuff

The workshop began with a quick overview of photography - using any sort of camera. I was quickly lost - aperture, exposure etc of course have a meaning that I understand, but applying each to produce good photographs is a foreign concept.

We then moved on the demonstrate how these concepts were managed within an iPhone’s camera features.

Back at School

We were in a small group of just four people, all total beginners that were quite unaware of the photographer features that each model of the iPhone offer, all eager to learn.

The session flowed well, and learning a lot as a group was easy.

Composition Techniques

This was one of the take-aways that I continue to be aware of. Whether its improved my photography, I'm not actually sure - that said it can't have made it worse.

The "Rule of Thirds." This approach means breaking the image into a 3x3 grid and placing points of interest along these lines or intersections. By enabling this grid feature on our iPhones, we could better frame our shots to create better images.

It was also fascinating to get a better understanding of how shifting the angle by simply moving to a different location, could turn a simple photo into something so much more captivating. For instance, when photographing a wall display from a lower angle, we found that the shot felt more interesting and engaging.

Editing Tips

Not really photography as such, but the workshop also covered the basic editing techniques using the Photos app. We learned how to crop images, adjust brightness and contrast, and apply filters - simple techniques and tools that can vastly improve a simple photo.

The instructor showed us how even the slightest tweaks could produce substantial enhancements - making a good photo great.

Having the chance to edit our photos immediately made the process even more rewarding.

The Impact of iOS Upgrades - All Change!

Then came the bad news.

Apparently its common practice to move options, settings, buttons etc around on each significant iOS upgrade - meaning that you might know what you want to do, but can no longer find it. We'll be fine though as we just took away the basics.

Putting Our Skills to the Test

After the workshop, we've been putting our new skills into practice. Our photographs are definitely improving - but we have some way to go. That said, for now, we feel better equipped with our new-found knowledge to continue to experiment with different lighting conditions and compositions.

For example, I found myself the other day taking close ups of flowers for the first time ever.

A Final Thought - Today at Apple

Attending the "Today at Apple" workshop on photography was great. We learned valuable techniques, explored features, and realised that there is shed loads of stuff we don't know.

If you're thinking about attending a workshop at your local Apple Store, do it. They are a nice bunch of willing tutors.

We will be returning for another session soon.

< We were asked not to take photos at Apple >